Sample Ketogenic Meal Plan

Sample Keto Meal Plan

Breakfast – 4 eggs, any way you like. Cook with butter – 1/2 – 1 tablespoon. Toss in cheese if desired, shredded cheddar works great. 3-4 slices of bacon, or some ham or sausage. Handful of blueberries or raspberries if you want, or an ounce of nuts.

Snacks: almonds (roasted and salted are fine but avoid flavored kinds like BBQ, wasabi, etc), cheese, summer sausage, walnuts, pecans, cashews. In general, 1 oz of cheese or nuts is 180-200 calories. 2 oz of summer sausage is 180 calories. Pork rinds are a good snack, and can also be used as a breading for fried chicken. Avocados are wonderful. Berries (in moderation). Hard boiled eggs. Greek salad with olives, feta cheese, capers, chicken or fish (sardines are cheap and easy), and a low carb dressing (blue cheese, many variations of ranch, or an olive oil based Italian). Skip the croutons.

Lunch on the run? Hit up Wendy’s or Hardee’s. Get the baconator, no ketchup, no bun – ask them to wrap it in lettuce. 8 out of 10 times they won’t even question it. 760 glorious calories, tasty, filling. Hardee’s one-ups Wendy’s by actually making ‘low carb’ a menu option.

Lunch at home, or packed? I like making a BIG salad with olives, feta cheese, Italian dressing (Newman’s Wwn makes a good one that’s 2 grams carbs) – take the full 2 tablespoons of dressing – sardines or some other fish, capers, salt, pepper. The sardines or other canned fish add a lot of fat, nutrition, and fill you up. Lettuce wrap burgers are also a good quick lunch. And of course, keep leftovers from dinner the night before (pot roasts and pork loins generally yield leftovers, as do keto-lasagna (see recipe page for that one).

Dinner: Steak (get something well-marbled, like a ribeye), non-starchy vegetables (yellow squash, zucchini, asparagus, broccoli, cover any of them in cheese and butter or olive oil), pork chops, salmon, lettuce wrap burgers with cheese, bacon, mayo. Sautéed onions and mushrooms are okay in moderation (onions are actually a little starchy but an ounce is okay). Get 80/20 beef – no need to go lean. Get well marbled meats. Chuck roast in the crock pot. I just sear 4 minutes per side, then put in crock pot on low with beef broth, salt, pepper, and whatever meat seasoning you like. You can do some carrots and celery with it if you want (no potatoes though).

Foods to avoid – milk, soda, sports drinks, bread, rice, pasta, cereal, potatoes, fruits, dense vegetables, sweets, croutons, peanuts and peanut butter. Check the label – the goal is < 25 net carbs daily for the first 6 weeks. After 6 weeks of strict ketogenic eating, some people do well on 50-75g net. You’ll need to experiment carefully and see how you do.